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EAST VILLAGE YACHT CLUB Before you chortle at the name of this marooned bit of nautical charm opening tomorrow, remember that the venerable New York Yacht Club is located on West 44th Street, just about halfway between two rivers. Andy King, a party planner, has collaborated with Nicola Kotsoni to turn the two-level former Chez Es Saada space into an enclave of salty, weathered charm. Blue and white paint and fabric, old paintings of schooners, silver yachting trophies and a gilded mermaid figurehead, below, decorate the raw bar and the “Commodore’s dining room.” Mark Grieco’s menu heels to retro favorites — potpies, lobster rolls, deviled eggs. Club memberships, including perks like cruises on Mr. King’s 40-foot yawl, are available: 42 East First Street (Second Avenue), (212) 777-5617.

Open Now

TREE With simple dark wood against ocher walls, this sliver of a spot offers a straightforward bistro menu by Andrew Robinson, who had been at Gramercy Tavern: 190 First Avenue (12th Street), (212) 358-7171.BAR STUZZICHINI With drinks, bars in Italy serve snacks called stuzzichini (cicchetti in Venice): caponata, arancini, salume and the like. That tells you nearly all you need to know about this new spot, which opened Monday for dinner and will add lunch on Tuesday, except that the chef is Paul Di Bari, formerly chef de cuisine at Wallsé. And there is a dining room in back with a southern Italian menu: 928 Broadway (21st Street), (212) 780-5100.

Photo

Credit
Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times

AURORA SOHO This rustic, thoroughly Italian spot is a branch of the Williamsburg original: 510 Broome Street (Thompson Street), (212) 334-9020.FREDERICK’S RESTAURANT AND BAR Frederick and Laurent Lesort have turned Frederick’s, a subterranean lounge and club, into a full-fledged restaurant. The menu is French-Mediterranean, from paella to bouillabaisse, with tapas, sashimi and a burger in the mix: 8 West 58th Street, (212) 752-6200.CASELLULA CHEESE &WINE CAFé Cheese and wine are a given, but beer also gets its due here with American cheeses and other light food: 401 West 52nd Street, (212) 247-8137.

LA PROVENCE John Besh, the acclaimed chef and owner of August in New Orleans, took over this place, which opened in 1971 and where he once worked, in December. After the death in February of Chris Kerageorgiou, its founder and chef and Mr. Besh’s mentor, it was closed for several months. Mr. Besh has spruced it up and reopened it: 25020 Highway 190, Lacombe, La., (985) 626-7662.

Chefs on the Move

SAM TALBOT has pulled out of Spitzer’s, which was to be his Lower East Side debut. 15 East has hired Hideji Asanuma, formerly at Honmura An, to be its soba noodle chef. The peripatetic Sara Jenkins has become the executive chef for the Mangia chain of prepared food and catering shops.